Al-Akhdar defeats China in the last minute in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers

The Saudi national team achieved a valuable victory in the last moments over the Chinese national team, with two goals to one, in the match that took place today, Tuesday, in the third round of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers .

The result of the match between the Saudi national team and the Chinese national team The Chinese team scored the first goal in the 14th minute of the match through a ball that was accidentally passed by the Saudi defender Ali Lajami into his own goal. Defender Mahmoud Kano was sent off in the 19th minute, so the Saudi team completed the match with only ten players. In the 39th minute, Hassan Kadesh scored the equalizer, and in the 90th minute, Kadesh also managed with a powerful header to achieve victory over the host, the Chinese team, so the score became 2-1 in favor of the Greens.

Match details Saudi Arabia coach Mancini entered the match with an attacking approach aiming to control the midfield, but he suffered from an unsuccessful performance during the first 10 minutes. The Chinese team took advantage of the Green Falcons' lead, and scored an own goal in the 14th minute after a header from Ali Lajami that was incorrectly saved by goalkeeper Al-Owais.

Saudi Arabia's problems worsened after that, when Mohammed Kano was sent off with a straight red card for deliberately hitting a Chinese player, after a VAR review.

The Saudi threat began in the 27th minute, when Salem Al-Dawsari was alone with the Chinese goalkeeper, but he failed to score, and the ball went to the Chinese defense in the final moments of the first half. The Greens got a corner kick, where Nasser Al-Dawsari sent a successful cross to Hassan Kadesh, who scored the equalizer. The Chinese team almost regained the lead in stoppage time, but its striker's header went over the crossbar.

In the second half, the Saudi team's performance remained modest and a Chinese goal was disallowed in the 53rd minute after a VAR check due to offside. Salem Al-Dawsari tried to get a penalty kick after contact with a Chinese defender, but the referee decided to continue playing.

In the 71st minute, Mancini was forced to make the first substitution, adding Fahad Al-Muwallad instead of Abdullah Al-Hamdan. As the match approached its end, Mancini made additional substitutions, bringing on Musab Al-Juwair, Mohammed Maran and Aoun Al-Sulali instead of Abdul-Ilah Al-Malki, Firas Al-Buraikan and Ali Lajami.

In the 90th minute, Hassan Kadesh scored the second goal for the Green Falcons with a powerful header, raising Saudi Arabia's score to 4 points after its draw with Indonesia, so that the path for the Saudi national team in the 2026 World Cup is open, as it is scheduled to face Australia and Japan later.